Warmest Welcome to the Michiana Marlins Swim School!

We can’t wait to see you and your swimmer on deck next week! Classes start Monday, September 11. Our staff has been working hard to bring their combined decades of swim lesson instruction and competitive coaching expertise right to your young swimmer in a professional, yet fun, experience! We have prepared a robust curriculum filled with vital water safety skills and necessary foundations for racing strokes. We are ready and excited to get to work with the kids!

Below you will find helpful information and facility policies to get you and your swimmer off to a great start. Please take a minute to read through this email carefully. Thank you so much!

What do I bring?

Please have your swimmer arrive, already wearing their swimsuit, under comfortable layers that can be removed easily on deck, like loose sweats, a parka or robe. Make sure to bring your own towel. (Knollwood has stated that our swim school and swim team participants may not use the white member towels that you may see around the facility. Thank you to all our school participants for respecting this policy.) Bring goggles if your child prefers them and can independently adjust them when needed.* Please make sure that all long hair is tied back, away from the face. Finally, we hope that all our Level 4 Mini-Marlins will acclimate to wearing a swim cap within our first few weeks, they will receive one from us in their forthcoming Welcome Bag!

*Our goggle preference is NO goggles in Stars classes; goggles AS PREFERRED in Sharks and Stingrays; and goggles and caps are REQUESTED in Mini-Marlins.

TYR Swimple (3-5 years) or TYR Blackops Junior (6 years+) are great goggle recommendations for our youngest swimmers!

Where do I go?

Please plan to arrive at Knollwood ten minutes before your child’s class starts! Please park in Knollwood’s main lot and plan to enter the facility through its lowest level front exterior door–it is the dark, tinted door which leads right to our pool and passes by our Kids’ Club. Door entrance is subject to change after a few days of observation.

Please head right to the deck where you will find a small spectator area with tables and chairs. Feel free to bring your own collapsible camp chair if you’d like to ensure you have seating. Please help your child get ready for class on deck. Our locker rooms are for emergency restroom use only for our school participants during our swim school hours. We ask that you not shower or undress your child in member locker rooms during our school hours. Thank you.

We also ask that your child not enter the water before class. A proper on-deck transition from adult to instructor must occur each visit; safety is our primary concern.

Three minutes before class starts, escort your child to meet their instructor on deck next to a large sign for their class level–Stars, Sharks, Stingrays or Mini-Marlins. Our Deckhand staff member will be floating and can help you transition your swimmer to instructor! Know that our curriculum includes a few minutes of greetings and safety discussion before water time each day, as well a few minutes of turnover and parent conference after water time. Each class!

Where do I go during class?

We require that at least one adult parent or guardian stay on deck in our spectator seating area during your child’s class. Our staff cannot escort your swimmer into our member locker rooms for emergency restroom use and we cannot allow a young swimmer to enter alone. So in the event of a restroom need, our Deckhand will escort your swimmer from class to you in spectator seating. (Please encourage your child to use the restroom at home before every class!) Our staff will also escort all swimmers from the water to the spectator seating area when class has ended for another proper adult to adult transition and short conference about the day’s swim!

What should my swimmer expect?

Your swimmer should expect a fun, high-energy swim lesson that includes making and supporting new friends, water safety discussions, being brave and trying lots of new skills, staying focused to correct old skills, an introduction to all things racing and having some FUN! We do incorporate lots of positive reinforcement throughout our lesson plans! You will see sticker collections grow and bubbles popped and a treasure chest with some surprises inside! You will see coloring contests and water safety bingo!!! There will be report cards for your memory books and graduation certificates. Once in a while we will share a candy or snack treat, so please reply to this email if there are any allergies we should know about.

In summary, we are so excited! Our Session kicks off first with our Monday swimmers! See you on deck!!

Kelly, Laurissa, Cassie, Emma and Aubrey

SHARE OUR SWIM SCHOOL WITH FRIENDS! WE HAVE OPENED SOME NEW CLASSES TO ADDRESS DEMAND AND HAVE A FEW SPOTS LEFT IN OTHERS! HERE'S WHERE WE STILL HAVE OPENINGS:

Stars Openings for first-time swimmers who cannot yet submerge:

Sat 9:00 (3-5 years), Tues 10:00 (3-5 years), Wed 10:00 (3-5 years), NEW Wed Class 4:30 (6-9 years)

Sharks Openings for beginners 4 years+ who CAN fully submerge

Mon 5:15, Tues 10:35, WED 10:35, Sat 9:00

Stingrays Openings for swimmers 4 years+ who can independently get into front and back floats and who are comfortable unassisted in deep water

M&W 5:15, NEW Sat Class 10:35

Mini-Marlins Openings for swimmers 5 years+ who are proficient in freestyle and backstroke for 12-15 yards and can swim continuously for 35-40 minutes

NEW Tues Class 11:10, NEW Wed Class 11:10 - great for homeschool students, spread the word!

Register here today: 

MIchiana Marlins Swim School Registration Site